Install

The panel wall and orange band allow for a great crit space for students through out the semester to pin up and talk.

This is the window wall of the studio and the interesting thing is at night the circles go away b/c with no light there are no shadows that are being produced.

A view of the panel wall with work posted on it the panels allow light and people to pass through at all time of the day but still create a divider.

Northern Guilford High School Art Gallery

This is a view of the open area of the art gallery and a peak at the closed formal part of the gallery...

Thesis update...

It came to me in  the car the other day that I should use what I did in Australia and do something truly memorable for my thesis presentation. By taking the projection class that I took and combining it with the final products of my thesis which would be images of interviewers, site photos, final interior images and other information i would be able to create a watchout show. That would be put to music, which i think i may have found, and then projected at a large scale and where better to project it but Jackson Library. So at this point I am wait to here back from the space manger at the library to see if i can make this large scale show come to fruition. My hope is that it will be a moving event that many people can come and see and enjoy. I think that by presenting this way it would be great to put in my folio as well as my resume. Hopefully everything works out!!

Studio Review 4/9 Circulation: Art Gallery

   As part of the circulation group we were able to really gain an understanding of what aspects needed to be similar in the two spaces. The signs and way finding needed to be similar as well as a banding idea in the halls. The issue was that the high school already has a lot of the features that the middle school was trying to fix. So as a group during are review we were able to decide that the high school will not focus so much on the hallways but the main individual areas. We would have one page on what we plan on doing for the halls but let them know that it was not our main focus of the design. This was important b/c the high school group was able to really decide to work on the most important part of the school which was the main community areas. 

   As an individual i got good feedback from Patrick as well as my group about how to change the art gallery by simply applying some of the same techniques as the other members but also cutting out the door and actually having it be an experience instead of just looking the viewer will be able to go in side the space and walk around and look at the art work much like a real gallery. It was also brought up that i should make the whole front panel glass so it would be easer to view the art work. I fell like it was all great feedback and I'm very excited to see where it the design goes. 

High School Art Gallery

The picture below is  a drawing of the art space with a possible system in it and the column painted as well as a connection btw the space and the column that would continue on into the the college area and then into the rest of the main floor. The picture to the right is the exterior of the art space as it is now and i am looking to change the bottom panels to glass as well as the door and to branch out of the space to create a forest of art work that would belong to students and the community. 

First Pin up

This was some inspiration that i found to work on the art display space. Shannon and i wanted to create a display system that would work in the college area as well as the art and sports areas. We decided that it would be good to use the banner system with the display boxes and other similar systems to display information. We also thought that the idea of branching fit our spaces and also ended up working with the circle concept for the middle school and came together to create a tree/ forest. 

Thesis

So i have to say that i'm pretty pumped that i have figured out my thesis. Not by myself of course but with the help of Anna. I have decided to take a historical building here in Greensboro and turn it into a center for cancer patients and there families to get knowledge, counseling and support. It would offer a home atmosphere vs the hospital. It would be a place where families could connect get help and spend time. I am looking to have rooms for counseling, computer center to allow people to gather information, join help groups, blog, and chat with others who are going through similar experiences. I also want to offer a library that contains information  about all kinds of cancers, treatments, and programs that may help. I am also looking at a child's area as well as a kitchen and tables so that families can cook or gather, or events could be held in the home. I want this project to be as green as possible so that i am creating a space that doesn't cause cancer. I feel like if something like this could be available to the community it could have a really great impact. 

I know from personal experience that cancer can happen at any time and to anyone and the grieving process takes time. There needs to be a place for people to go and get help and be able to talk about what has happened and what is happening in there lives. No one should ever have to deal with the ramifications of this horrible disease but more and more people are being touched by this awful sickness and the community needs to reach out to them and give them the help that they need and deserve. 

Atlanta

Atlanta was a real eye opener for me b/c it let me see how firms really worked and where i could fit in to a big firm. I loved that we were able to go to several and get a feel for different firms and how they design and look. It was a overall great experience. I don't know if i was too keen on Atlanta but i think it could grow on me and i could get use to it. I also am glad that we were able to talk about budgeting so i can get an idea of the money side of working for a firm.

roots exercise

I found that it was an interesting way to get to a new idea from an object. It was a creative response to the two artifacts that we brought in. I ended up creating a space in a hallway that would allow people to gather in between classes and sit with in the window. Creating a nook for them and a friend or just them and there books. I thought it would be something nice to create a moment in which students could interact during there busy class filled days. 

Bachelard Chapters (2+3)

Ch 2 (house and universe): Was a very interesting chapter about how the house fits in with surroundings and how we fit into the house. I found the quote on pg 43 really helpful in talking about the sounds of a space..."sounds lend color to space, and confer a sort of sound upon it". This is a really good insight on the idea that sounds can help create a space and turn it into something more. The chapter talks about how poets can talk about space and make spaces and homes come alive. I never thought about how poetic space can really be. This book even though it is very difficult to read really takes the time to create something special for the reader and Bachelard goes into depth in this chapter describing houses and how they are remembered, how they react to weather, and how we respond to our surroundings. I found the most interesting part of the chapter was the last part about the study on children and looking at how they draw there homes based on what has happened to them. "Asking a child to draw there house is like asking him to reveal the deepest dream shelter he has found for his happiness". I find it amazing how much you can tell by asking a child to draw there house. He says that if they are happy the home is cozy but, if the child has had distress then the house is dark and scary. Children have a very real view on there surroundings and i think it helps to revert back to that once and again. 

Ch 3 (drawers, chests, and wardrobes):

What is nice about this chapter is that we explore the idea that a drawer is something much more then what some people choose to see it as. I enjoy the quote on pg 75 "concepts are drawers in which knowledge may be classified" i find this very true in the grand scheme of things. We tuck away concepts much like drawers into the bigger picture or the chest. I find this metaphor very successful. I also like how he took the time to talk about when people take care of a piece of furniture and it's like it comes alive under there touch and takes on a special quality of such. I think this is true and when ever my mom asked me to dust off the dinning room table and polish it, i felt so proud afterwards and admired how great the table looked. I have always loved that table and i think that is why because, i took care of it and put time into it so it made it something more to me.

Amanda Soesbee above and beyond teacher, mentor, friend

Amanda Soesbee was by far my favorite teacher. She was a high school yearbook and english teacher and by my sophomore year we were pretty well aquatinted and i helped her out with earns and stuff around school. By my senior year Soes (as we all call her) was my mentor and helped me with all things college, high school, and life related. She was amazing at being there for you whenever you needed her and would do just about anything for the people that she loved! She always got my out of trouble if i was late for class which was most days, she helped  proof my papers when i was in college, she always encouraged all of her students (including me) to go above and beyond. She was always a shoulder to cry on and she always meant what she said. She was so much more then a teacher to many students and i know that I'm just one that was impacted by her loving care through the difficult years of high school. 

One of the best moments that i had with Soes was when we all graduated she took a bunch of us that wanted to go to Europe for a "educational tour". We went with three other high schools and she made it so worth wile and to this day i still talk about how amazing the trip was. I still look back at how lucky i was to be able to travel to Italy, France and Monaco at the age of 18. The trip also gave me the courage to go study abroad for 6 months in Australia. Which was an experience of a life time that most people will never be able to say that they did.

 She made everything a adventure and we were all lucky to be along for the ride. I just want to say thanks Amanda no matter what we did or said or acted like you always loved us all like we were your kids and i wouldn't be where i am today if it weren't for you!

Favorite Subject (High School)

I went to school in Huntersville at North Meck high school. I transfered there when i was a freshmen from lancaster PA. What was great about North was that it was a votech high school. It allowed me to take many different course to help figure out what i wanted to do when i graduated. But my favorite had to be my interior design class as well as my senior year i took architecture and started to learn CAD and these both helped me to get to the place that i am in today doing something that i love. The interior design class had three levels to it i ended up taking two of them because our teacher ended up leaving. She was a good teacher but it was more about the people that i had class with and they made it that much better. I loved coming to that class every day we always did something fun, everything from design boards, sowing, to making little models. It was just a all around great class that i always had fun in. A lot of the people that took that class are here in the IARC program which i think is great. I think another thing that made the class funny was that there was one boy in it that couldn't get into anything else and had to take the class to graduate and our teacher made him do all the activities no matter how ridicules they were. Much like IARC with not that many men in the major he added the comic relief that the class needed. 

My architecture class had a really amazing teacher Mr. Hern who had a really big heart for the community and i think that had a lot to do with why i am so community oriented and love to help out and give back whenever i can. He was very involved in the make a wish foundation and every year we would grant a wish by playing a powder puff game, seniors vs juniors. I helped head this up my senior year and it was one of the most rewarding accomplishments of my high school career. We not only met the child we were helping support but the family and see the impact that we had on there lives. He was a overall really great man who helped out in anyway he could. I also remember us collecting toys for tots and going to the hospital and passing them out one weekend to the kids that wouldn't get to go home for christmas. It was that kind of thing that made him not just a good teacher but a good leader and it affected everyone around him. 

Quote from Bachelard

I talked about a quote in class about engraving images vs real images on page 32 but I found another quote that i seem to like better... "The streets are like pipes into which men are sucked up." page 27. The reason I enjoy this quote is because its true. I found it especially true in Australia. The streets where men lived and worked and spent there time drew them in day after day. It was about a community that lived and breathed on the streets. The people started to make the streets come alive and it was reflected as such when you walked down the roads.

Integration Charette

What really was great about this charette was i felt like we got together as a group/ studio and discussed how the installation would look and as a result it made it so much easier to get our ideas out and make it clear what we needed to deliver for that friday. I feel like it helped build off of the downstairs installation which was a goal and then tie our work back up to 204. I really enjoy doing large scale projects that involve installing in many locations. It just makes for a more interesting studio and project. I think everyone enjoyed this project a bit more too. I also felt like we were all able to have our hands in everything. For example i helped with the install but i also helped with process and blogging while others did the write up for the project and some taped off sections and others cleaned up i felt like the whole install was really successful. 

review of team Geometry

OverView of team geometry: 

after reviews of each group we decided to give helpful feed back and crits of each group 

I felt like the presentation was clear in some parts but hazy in others. I’m still confused by the need for carpet tiles I feel like the flooring should be one material keeping with the concept of something that was seamless or the wall continued down onto the floor. I was also confused about the ceiling tiles I felt like they did ass color and shape as well as texture but they I felt like it didn’t go along with the concept and that the walls could some how continue onto the ceiling. I was also still wondering about the curved wall for the presenter I feel like it limits you to present on that one wall because that was where its supposed to be but I feel like if the louvers were some how translated to that wall then the space could be more flexible and adaptable. I really enjoyed the use of the Magnetic pain on the walls and thought that that was very successful. I also think your desk and chair are a great design and really work well for your concept I also think that the touching of the doors and louvers and having them spring out is a really interesting idea and could be really great in the space! I think over all you really applied your concept to the space and it helped you make important decisions regarding the interiors. 

Thoughts...

When Patrick said I needed to write more and "Journal" I wasn't the happiest person. But I feel like if I can just take 30 min out of the day twice a week or so that I will look back and appreciate that i took the time to reflect on life/ studio. This week was a little harder on me then normal for some reason i felt like i was in a funk. I just couldn't handle all of the stuff that was due and needed to be done for the week. I guess the face that we are graduating soon and have to go out into the real world is starting to hit me and i just feel like i have so much to get together before i can go anywhere. Including: studio, blogs, study abroad, work, internship, etc... On top of the normal stuff that needs to get done I have no time to do laundry and clean my apt. Which makes me feel bad because my roomie has to pick up my pieces of the mess. 

On a brighter note I will be going to IKEA next weekend and getting some stuff for the apt. which I'm truly pumped about and so is the dad unit. So the trip should make for good fun. The roomie is coming as well so well see how much work we get and that will help me figure out what time i can go to Charlotte to see the family. Well that was just some thoughts I'm sure i'll write more later...

Great Materials

This is the BBB pick chair that we used in our space that can hang on the wall and then you take it down and fold it right into the chair. What was cool was that you can get a plexi one that you can write on. The chair is by studio DROR and have a lot of other great innovative products and spaces. 

This is the F2 Folding Table which we also used in the space there is a great video of it in action. The table is by Nils Frederking. You can find it if you just type in the F2 folding table. 

Lectern Process....

Final lectern model in 3d CAD the pod unit was called the peanut. It was lockable and dock-able with an internal power system that gave power to the entire pod. It had "wings" that came out on either side to hold models, laptops, or anything else needed for presenters. It was managed by a touch screen panel that controlled the entire room. The pod would be charge at night and then be ready to go in the morning. 

Final Perspectives part 2

Final Perspectives

This is an image showing our final ideas for team trig. Showing the entrance and the pin up space.

More Trig Sketches

These are some images from a professor that i had when i was at RMIT. I took a class on projection and it allowed me to really gain a new perspective on how space can be perceived through projection. We used some of these ideas in 204 and the idea that you could project on to every surface. Ian de Gruchy is a really great professor and his work was truly amazing he has his own website: http://artprojection.com.au/html/Idebib.htm. His work really helped me look at 204 in a new light!! 

Process work for Team Trigonometry

It was nice to get back into the swing of working with a group and in the case of team trig it seemed to be going pretty well, I felt. We worked well as a team and got a lot done. I think the thing that help was the fact that we made a lot of lists and kept to them at all times to get all the work done! 

<----- Here are the first sketches